Traveling Soldier
by four51
Summary: Tristan never left. Rory has a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is going away to be in the military. Who will comfort Rory? Will be a trory, but right now? TR friendship. CHAPTER 9 UP! Probably the last one.
1. She

A/N: Um, first story on this name, hope you like it.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't wanna bore you, you probably seen this on other stories  
  
Summary: Tristan never left. Rory has a boyfriend (John). Her boyfriend suddenly signs up for the military. Who's there to comfort Rory?  
  
Chapter 1: She  
  
"Hey, sweetie," Rory says to the person leaning against her locker with 2 cups of coffee in his hands. This was John. Rory and him have been a couple for about 9 months. They loved each other.  
  
Tristan had become sick of it, so he stopped bugging Rory. Sometimes, when they were forced to talk, they would be friendly for purposes unknown. But otherwise, no word.  
  
"Hey," John greets her with a kiss, and then gives her the to-go cup of coffee.  
  
"You're smart." Rory opens her locker and takes out the necessary books for her upcoming classes. She turns around to see Tristan walking down the hall, completely solitary. Their eyes meet for a second, then go back to reality.  
  
"Rory?"  
  
"Wha-what?" she asks, noticing that John is looking at her funny.  
  
"I've been trying to get your attention for like 2 minutes. Are you okay?" he asks.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Well good, let's go to class." Rory smiled and closed her locker.  
  
Later  
  
The couple is on the swing in front of the Gilmore house.  
  
"Baby?" John asks, quietly.  
  
"Yeah," Rory looks at his emerald green eyes.  
  
"I need to tell you something, sweetie, and you have to promise me you won't get mad."  
  
"Um, I... I promise."  
  
"I signed up for something today."  
  
"Okay, nothing bad... yet."  
  
"I signed up for the military. I start out on Monday."  
  
Bad. 


	2. Would

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I have decided that I shall at least 10 reviews per chapter for me to go on. (But I will probably go on anyways, hehe) Anyways, back to the story.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, but I do own 'John,' if you were wondering.  
  
Summary: Tristan never left. Rory has a boyfriend (John). Her boyfriend suddenly signs up for the military. Who's there to comfort Rory?  
  
A/N 2: chapter names... when I am done with the story, you will see something with the chapter names... you'll see when I am done...  
  
Chapter 2: Would  
  
Rory started to tear. This couldn't be true. He wouldn't leave her. He couldn't. She can't be alone. She hated to be alone. They had been together for almost 9 months! How dare he do this to her?!  
  
"What?" she asked quietly. John could hardly hear her.  
  
"I'm so sorry, honey."  
  
"Then why did you do it?" Rory gritted through her teeth. She was trying so hard to hold her tears in. She was a big girl now. She couldn't cry. But she could get mad. And that she was. She was so angry at him right now.  
  
"It's my calling right now."  
  
"No it's not! Your calling is here! With me!" A single tear slid down her cheek.  
  
"Don't cry." He couldn't stand the sight of her crying, less, knowing that he caused those tears escaping.  
  
"Then don't go!" she screeched. More tears escaped her eyes.  
  
"I have to go," he said, then added, "I don't like to see you cry."  
  
"Then leave," she ordered angrily. But she secretly hoped that he wouldn't.  
  
John just nodded his head silently and stood up. "I'll try talking to you later."  
  
Rory looked up and saw the hurt in his eyes, and wished that he could see the same look in hers. And he did. And that look almost made him cry himself.  
  
John looked to the floor and walked slowly off the porch, off the steps, and rode his car out of the town.  
  
Once his car was out of sight, Rory raced to her room, and collapsed on her bed. Then came another round of tears.  
  
About an hour later, Lorelai entered an almost seemingly empty house. "Rory?" she asked in a Donna Read voice.  
  
Then she approached Rory's closed room door. Lorelai knocked. No answer.  
  
She opened the door slowly, just to face a crying Rory, her back to her. Lorelai could see she was clearly mourning, so she closed the door, and let Rory cry out all she wanted to.  
  
The telephone rang.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, it's me, can I speak to Rory?"  
  
"I'm sorry Paris, but I am afraid she can't really talk right this second."  
  
"Well, could you tell her to call me back?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Bye Lorelai."  
  
"Bye Paris."  
  
==- The next morning, Saturday, 8:02 AM -== ¤  
  
Lorelai regretted having to leave early, but she had an important wedding to organize, and these people were paying her a ton of money to do this job.  
  
So she left a note. She wanted to stay. She really did, but work isn't called that for nothing.  
  
==- 9:37 -==  
  
Rory woke up with disillusioned eyes and a confused heart. She wanted it all to be a dream. She wanted it not to be true.  
  
The only person she ever loved was going in the military. It was hard to even grasp.  
  
Suddenly she got really dizzy. The world was spinning all over the place.  
  
She hit the floor hard. 


	3. Have

Lorelai entered the room very late that night. The preparations took up most of the day. The wedding was the next day, and they had to make sure everything was just right.  
  
She walked into the kitchen and gasped at what she saw: Rory lying on the floor, semi-unconscious.  
  
Lorelai ran to her daughter's side and began to pat her face for her to wake up. She sighed in relief when Rory mumbled a bit and slowly opened her eyes. "Mom, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, I finished work."  
  
"But it's only 9."  
  
"No, it's 11:30 at night sweetie."  
  
"What, that's impossible-." Then Rory saw the clock. It was, indeed, 11:30 PM.  
  
"That must have been some fall you had there."  
  
Then Rory remembered the event that happened the night before. She, then, brakes down in tears. "Oh, Mom."  
  
Lorelai collected her daughter as he said reassuring things to her, while Rory cried in her lap.  
  
¤ 6:30 AM ¤  
  
Lorelai woke up on the couch, with Rory's head on her lap. The night before, after Rory had cried for about 5 minutes, she told Lorelai the story. Then, they got the cookie dough ice-cream from the fridge and wallowed together.  
  
So, now there was only one thing that she knew Rory would want when she woke up: coffee.  
  
Lorelai gently escaped from her said position on the couch, got dressed, and set out for Luke's. Then she found herself in front of it in no time. Lorelai entered the diner and immediately sat at a stool in the front of the empty diner. Luke was no where in sight. "Hey Luke!" she yelled, "Where's your 6 AM crowd?"  
  
"Not here." Luke appeared from the kitchen. "What on earth are you doing here at 6.30 in the morning?"  
  
"Rory needs coffee."  
  
Luke's face went from annoyed to sympathetic. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, it's a long story. And I don't want Rory to think I am telling the whole town, so I think I should keep it to myself, for at least a little while."  
  
"Oh, come on Lorelai, it's just me."  
  
Lorelai gave in. "I don't think you will be seeing John for a while."  
  
Then Luke's face went from sympathetic to angry. "What happened?"  
  
"He's going into military school."  
  
"Really?" Luke's mad-dog face sobered down a little.  
  
"Yeah, and he just told Rory on Friday night that he would be going tomorrow."  
  
Luke didn't know what to say. "Wow."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, um, you can have all the coffee you want, I guess."  
  
Lorelai's face brightened up. "Really?"  
  
Luke looked annoyed again. "For Rory."  
  
Luke started to fill up the coffee cups.  
  
Lorelai put on a face of sympathy again, "Right," Luke handed her 6 coffee cups, "Well I guess I got to get back. See you later Luke."  
  
"Yeah, tell Rory hi and that I am sorry."  
  
"Sure, bye Luke!"  
  
¤ At the house ¤  
  
Lorelai entered the house and saw that Rory was up already. "Hey hon. You want some coffee?"  
  
"I need to call him."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"John."  
  
"Oh, um, sure sweetie."  
  
"I mean he is leaving tomorrow, I just think he should know that I didn't mean what I said..." Rory started to drink a cup of coffee. "I do love him."  
  
"I know you do."  
  
"Well, I think that he should know that I do... still."  
  
"Yeah babe," Lorelai handed her the phone, "take your time, I am just going to be upstairs."  
  
Rory nodded and Lorelai went to her room.  
  
¤ On the phone ¤  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey, John, it's me."  
  
"Hey."  
  
Silence.  
  
"So... are you still mad at me?"  
  
"No, John I was never mad at you."  
  
"You sure sounded like it."  
  
"I just didn't, don't want you to go."  
  
"I know sweetie... it's just... I need to do this for me."  
  
Rory is now crying. "I know... sometimes you have to let the people you love, go."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Go look outside your door."  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"Just do it."  
  
Rory walks over to the door and opens it.  
  
Standing before her is John. Rory sighs with a smile and invites him in. 


	4. To

A/N: Ok, what happened to my 10 reviews rule? Because I tend to write to less, like now, I am writing to only 2 reviews. But please, those of you who are reading, critique my work, and tell me what I need to work on and give me some ideas for the next chapter. Thanks. Paige  
  
Disclaimer: I own only John, not the name but the person in this story, and the promise ring, which will be in this chapter. So don't sue me, Francie.  
  
Now on to the chapter.  
  
Chapter 4. To  
  
¤ Airport ¤  
  
"I want you to have this."  
  
"Oh, my god, John, what is it?"  
  
"When I come back I want to marry you, Rory, and this is a promise ring, saying I will. So when some one asks you to run away with them, say you're already taken."  
  
A single tear travels down Rory's cheek. "I want to marry you too."  
  
John smiles. He knew who he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. "I love you, Rory."  
  
Rory looks down to the ground and starts to cry. But John immediately takes her chin in the crook of his finger and brought her up to face him. He looked at her with pleading eyes.  
  
"Please, John, please don't go," Rory asks, "I need you."  
  
"You're much too independent to need me."  
  
"But I do! I do need you! Please, please John, please don't go!"  
  
John looks to the ground and looks back up at Rory. Rory sees the tears in his eyes. "Rory, please don't do this."  
  
Rory hugs him with all that she had, and cries on his shoulder. What was she going to do without him? He had always been her shoulder. Whenever they had a fight, and she ended up crying, he would always gather her up in his arms and get her to believe again. Whenever things weren't so great at home, he always listened, and understood what she was feeling. It was always him...  
  
And now they would be stripped apart.  
  
A/N: I will not write longer chapters unless I get more reviews coming. And please do what I ask in my first a/n? Please? I want to know what I could use help on. And, plus:  
  
Smile1: you said that my 3rd chapter wasn't as good as my 2nd. I just want to know why so that I can fix it in later chapters.  
  
Thanks to you all who take time to read this. I really appreciate it. Thank you.  
  
Paige 


	5. Wait

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate it... and smile1, thank you for your advice, and I will try to take more time when I am writing chapters. Thank you!  
  
Chapter 5: Wait  
  
Rory leaned on the glass, watching the plane fly away in the cloudy grey sky. Her love was gone; away; out of site.  
  
But she had done enough sobbing. Rory wiped the tears away and started walking toward the exit.  
  
She needed to go home, maybe sleep for a while, and get up refreshed. John had told her that he would have a brake in 6 months, and could come back home for a little bit. But right now, six months seemed like forever. How could she wait that long to see him? She would die. He was her blood, her every thought, and know he was stripped from her.  
  
Once she reached outside, the rain started to pour down, and Rory did nothing about it. She just started to walk to her car, letting the little raindrops drip on her. She swore, the clouds were crying for her, and for John.  
  
¤ Home ¤  
  
"Hey Mom," Rory greeted as she come in the door and headed for the living room.  
  
"Hi, sweets, how did everything go?"  
  
"He left."  
  
Lorelai nodded her head and put her arm around her daughter. "You look like you need some coffee."  
  
Rory smiled a bit. She knew her mom was just trying to cheer her up, and she respected that, so Rory took her up on that request: "Sure, Mom."  
  
"Well, let's go to Luke's."  
  
¤ Luke's Diner ¤  
  
The couple entered the diner. When Luke saw the sad faces, he knew exactly what day it was, it was Monday morning. "Rory, what do you want? I can make you anything."  
  
"Just coffee, Luke, I have to go to school soon."  
  
Luke nods, "Okay, but when you come back, I will make you anything, anything you want."  
  
Rory nods awkwardly and starts to drink the coffee that Luke had set in front of her. Lorelai starts to talk about how coffee could always make you feel better, and rambling on, and on, and on. But Rory wasn't listening to her, really. So Lorelai got the hint and stopped talking, and just drank her coffee she had to argue with Luke to get.  
  
Rory glances at her watch and it reads 7 o'clock. "Mom, I'm going to go."  
  
"Are you sure you want to go to school today, I mean, you could stay home, and-."  
  
"No, I have a test with Mrs. Coldwell, so I don't want to miss that."  
  
Lorelai gives her a testy look, but gives in. "Okay, hon."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Rory gets up from her seat and walks out of the door to the bus stop.  
  
The bus ride was very stuffy, but thank God she was coming off it now. There it was. The place she dreaded coming to about the 2nd day of school. Rory looked down while she walked toward the school, and up to her locker.  
  
He wasn't there. Well, of course he wasn't, and he wasn't going to be there for the rest of the year... well, at least when he was in the military, and she knew this. Rory hastily got the books out that she needed, and put some of the books back in if she didn't need them.  
  
This was it. The first day she had to face without her one person she had to rely on. She was completely alone in this school now, and she didn't like the thought of that. So she pushed that thought out of her head and tried to focus on the highlights of her day.  
  
That was until one person leaned on the locker next to hers.  
  
"You're not surrounded by the regular guy you usually are," came out of her mouth.  
  
"Paris, please," Rory pleaded. She wanted everyone to leave her alone today.  
  
"Oh, don't mind me, I just thought I would say that I know what has happened, and I want to say how deeply sorry I am that you have to go through all this," Paris said sarcastically and smirked.  
  
Rory looked at her disappointingly as tears sprang to her eyes. How could someone be this mean? And how can they have no respect for the other people that had no right to be treated like this? These questions were roaming Rory's head as he bit her lip, shook her head and walked toward her first period class. Yup, this was going to be a long day.  
  
One person was spending his time watching this little chat with Paris, and watching Rory walk away, almost crying. And that was the one person that had loved Rory since their kiss at Madeline's party almost a year ago: Tristan.  
  
¤ After school, at Stars Hollow ¤  
  
"Mom?" Rory asked as she entered the house. She didn't get an answer so she figured that her mother was at the diner, having some coffee.  
  
Once at Luke's, Rory opened the door and saw her mom bickering with Luke. Rory strolled over the stools next to Lorelai, and sat down.  
  
"Hey Hon, how was school?" Lorelai asked as she put her hand around Rory's shoulders.  
  
Rory moaned and said, "I need coffee."  
  
"Coming right up," Luke yelled from the kitchen.  
  
"That bad huh?" Lorelai asked her.  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
"Um, Rory?" Lorelai asked in a favor-ish tone.  
  
"Yes, Mom?" Rory said in the very same noise-frame.  
  
"Your grandmother called today."  
  
"Well? What did she say?"  
  
"They are having a party tonight."  
  
Rory looked flustered, "On Monday?"  
  
"That's what I said, but then that little two word line got me a lecture in a tone I did not like."  
  
Rory looked down. "Are we going?"  
  
"Only if you are up to it."  
  
Rory thought for a second. On one hand, she wanted to go out and not hover over this. On the other, she wanted to stay and wallow a bit more. "I think we should go," came her reply.  
  
"Are you sure Rory? I mean, you just broke up with-."  
  
"We did not break up," Rory corrected.  
  
"Okay, okay, you didn't break up... but are you really, really sure?"  
  
"Mom, I am positive."  
  
¤ The Elder Gilmore Residence ¤  
  
Rory was in the kitchen, on a stool, her elbows on the table, holding her nose right under her eyes, her eyes being closed.  
  
Then Rory felt someone sit right by her.  
  
"Hey," the person said.  
  
Rory opened her eyes to a familiar blonde haired, blue eyed guy. "Oh, hey Tristan."  
  
"I, uh, heard what happened... with John."  
  
Rory nodded her head.  
  
"Hey, do you want to go out and get some coffee... maybe?"  
  
Rory looked in his blue eyes and saw that they were genuine. Then she smiled up at him and answered, "Sure."  
  
A/N: Wow, long chapter, almost 4 pages... well anyways, please review and tell me something I could do... I think I should start the next chapter off by saying, "So that's how Rory Gilmore and Tristan DuGrey became best friends." And have it be like 2 or 3 months after this chapter... what do you guys think?  
  
Paige 


	6. Until

A/N: Thanks to the 5 of you who reviewed, I really appreciate that. Thanks. And I am going to try to make my chapters long, so... yeah.  
  
Oh, and "ilovemrbloom" according to your review a couple chapters back about having her not cheat on her boyfriend that is risking his life, um, just see where I am taking the story in this chapter... or the next, I haven't really decided yet.  
  
Disclaimer: see chapter 1 & 2, but you should already know that I don't own it... or I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I would be writing a scene... right? I got you there.  
  
Chapter 6: Until  
  
3 Months Later  
  
And that's how Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore and Tristan DuGrey became the best of friends. They told each other everything, and, of course, Tristan still had a "thing" for Rory, but he knew that they wouldn't work out. She had a boyfriend. And they were to get married when he came back. He also knew that Rory sent him letters at least 3 times a week, if not, more.  
  
But Tristan DuGrey was not a sap. He would not pine over this girl; he would move on. Like any other person would do. And eventually, Tristan did. But he still wouldn't go out with any other girls; not now that he was best friends with a girl.  
  
Tristan and Rory, being best friends, went to everything together: football games; Chilton parties; Stars Hollow parties; and so much more. And when you would see them, you would swear they were a couple, just by the way they looked at each other, and the way she would blush when he would whisper something dirty in her ear, and how they were –always- together.  
  
In class, Tristan would sit behind Rory and occasionally tug at her hair, just to feel how soft it was. And Rory would just be completely oblivious to all of this.  
  
She had a boyfriend. An almost husband. She couldn't feel that way even if she wanted to. She loved John. She did. With all her heart. And she was not going to just give him up just because she wanted someone she didn't know as much as him.  
  
And here they were in class and the bell was just about to ring.  
  
"Okay, class, I would like you to do a one page summary on the book you have been reading, from the beginning to where you are right now. They will be due tomorrow before class is over," the bell rings, "and you are excused."  
  
The class starts to heed to the door, to go home, and to get on with their plans for the weekend. As usual, Rory had stayed behind, packing up slower than the rest of the class, as she does every class, just waiting until they all are out.  
  
Tristan, knowing this schedule, stays along for her. "So, how far are you in your book?"  
  
"Page 268. You?"  
  
"Page one-hundred, eighty-... something."  
  
"Really?" Rory asked, surprised.  
  
"Yeah!" he said sarcastically.  
  
"Wow, I'm proud of you." Rory rolled her eyes.  
  
Their bickering continued for a couple of minutes and ended with Rory sticking her tongue out at Tristan.  
  
"Is that an invitation?" he asked.  
  
"In your dreams!"  
  
"Every night, baby, every night."  
  
"You're impossible," Rory rolled her eyes.  
  
"Eh, but you love me."  
  
"That's what –you- think."  
  
Tristan just smiled at that comment, for lack of a come-back. "Come on, I need to get you home so you don't become permanently attached to this hell hole."  
  
"Oh, yeah, wouldn't want that."  
  
"No we wouldn't. You wouldn't be coming to the country club with me tonight."  
  
"Oh, yeah, that's right... well maybe I should become attached here," she said smiling.  
  
"Ha, ha. You're a funny girl," Tristan stated sarcastically.  
  
"So I've been told."  
  
"Ready?"  
  
"Yup. Let's go."  
  
¤ That night, at the country club ¤  
  
"Rory, Tristan, so happy you're here," Emily Gilmore greeted her and Tristan at the door.  
  
"Hi, Grandma."  
  
"Hello, Ms. Gilmore," Tristan took Emily's outstretched hand and placed a kiss on the top of it. Rory smiled at this. The first time Tristan did this she almost burst out laughing.  
  
"Well, your grandfather is here somewhere, Tristan."  
  
"Yeah, he told me he would be here. Ror? You mind helping me find him?"  
  
"Sure. Bye Grandma."  
  
"Bye, Rory."  
  
In search of Janlen DuGrey, Tristan took Rory's hand so they would not get lost. "Grandpa!"  
  
Janlen was at the bar, waiting to be served. Tristan and Rory walked up to him. "Hi Mr. DuGrey."  
  
"Janlen, please. I've told you a hundred times Rory."  
  
Rory smiled.  
  
"So, you guys are finally together," Janlen said. Then seeing the confused look on the 17year olds faces, he pointed to their entwined hands.  
  
Once they saw what Janlen had been pointing to, Rory and Tristan's hands ripped apart and they stood there and looked at each other awkwardly.  
  
"No Grandpa, we're just friends."  
  
Janlen just shook his head and went back to his drink, sitting in front of him.  
  
Rory and Tristan looked at each other quizzically and started to walk out to the garden.  
  
"So you coming with me to the football game tomorrow?" Tristan asked once they got out there.  
  
"I think so, I would have to ask my mom."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But I am sure she would say yes... I mean she has always said yes, so if she said no at this one, it is beyond me. She could have picked any other day to do it... say no I mean. She could have said-."  
  
"Rory!"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"You're babbling, sweetie."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  
  
"'s alright."  
  
"So..."  
  
"I was thinking we could go get some dinner before, then we could go to the game."  
  
"Yeah, that'd be fine."  
  
"Okay."  
  
¤ At home ¤  
  
"So, I'll pick you up tomorrow around 6, okay?" Tristan and Rory were parked outside her house.  
  
"Okay, I'll be here... or at Luke's either one."  
  
"Okay, see you then."  
  
Rory exited the car and walked up the steps, and into the house.  
  
"So, how was it?"  
  
Rory enters the living room that held Lorelai. "Mom?"  
  
"Yeah, sweets."  
  
"I think I'm falling for Tristan." Rory said as she covers her face with her hands.  
  
A/N: Okay, I'm stopping there. Hope you guys review... cause I like reviews.  
  
Paige 


	7. He

A/N: Hey, I'm back. I think I rushed a little in the last chapter, and I want you to know she had been feeling that way for a while. I just can't help feeling that I am rushing it. So... I don't know how to fix it. Well, here's another chapter, and I want to make it long, so I will try my best. Thanks for all to you who reviewed.  
  
PS. In this chapter, Rory does something you guys are going to go "No!" on but I want you to know that she needs to think about it first. I don't think she should be cheating on John. I mean, I hope that I made John seem like a very nice, devoted guy, because that was my intention. Thanks.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own it! So don't sue me!  
  
Chapter 7: He  
  
"I think I'm falling for Tristan."  
  
No, she couldn't. She already had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that in 4 weeks would be their 1 year anniversary. He trusted her. John –trusted- her. And she was about to through that trust away? No, she couldn't. She loved him too much. And he loved her. Rory didn't even –know- if Tristan even liked her like that.  
  
Thinking this, Rory silently exited the living room and returned to her own room. It was way too risky. And what if she and Tristan –had- gotten together? John would still be home in 3 months, to see them... if Tristan had stayed around that long.  
  
Another reason! He was a player! How did she let herself fall for a person that uses a person for sex then dumps him the next day? But now to get around to it, Rory hasn't seen him with a girl since... Madeline's party.  
  
Oh, that party. She remembered it well. It was the night Rory Gilmore, the nice, sweet, innocent girl, kissed Tristan DuGrey, the high school bad ass, player. And it was also the night she saw something in him. She wasn't sure what it was at the time, but it was defiantly different. Very different to the regular Tristan.  
  
Her thoughts had made her stay up until at least 1 AM. Then she finally let her mind rest as her eyelids drooped down and she went to sleep.  
  
¤ The next morning ¤  
  
Rory woke up with a rush of reality.  
  
How could she have thought such a thing? She didn't love Tristan like that. She couldn't. She had a –boyfriend-! A fiancé, for Christ's sake! She couldn't, and wouldn't cheat on him. No matter how many feeling she could feel for Tristan. Because she couldn't do that to John.  
  
Rory exited her room, into the kitchen, seeing her mom battling with the coffee maker. "What did he do this time?"  
  
"He bit me," Lorelai answered, throwing the pot back in the holder.  
  
"Oh, he bit you."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"An inanimate object, stuck out teeth that it doesn't have, and bit a living thing?" Rory asked, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Yes," Lorelai replied as it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"Did it hurt?"  
  
"Yes," Lorelai rubbed her hand.  
  
"Good."  
  
"Mean."  
  
"I'm just stating the obvious."  
  
"Well, the obvious is well stated."  
  
"Why, thank you!"  
  
There was a sound from the coffee maker, and the couple looked at it. Suddenly coffee starts to spill from the top, making the coffee maker work. Lorelai looks at Rory with an 'I told you so' look, and Rory rolled her eyes again.  
  
Lorelai and Rory sat down at the kitchen table, and Lorelai started a conversation. "So what are you doing today?"  
  
"I'm going to a football game with Tristan."  
  
"Ah, a name that has quite a high rating in this house."  
  
"I thought about it, and I realized that I wasn't falling for him, I was just lonely."  
  
"Mm hmm."  
  
"It's true!" Rory tried to defend herself.  
  
"Rory..." Lorelai said in a 'you can't get anything by me' tone in her voice.  
  
"Mom, I'm serious."  
  
"Rory I've seen the way you guys look at each other. In pure admiration."  
  
"No! No, no, no, no, no."  
  
"Rory, yes!"  
  
Rory started to get tears in her eyes. Could she actually be cheating on John? Could she actually have feelings for Tristan? "I...I have to get out of here."  
  
And without another word, Rory ran out of the room, grabbing her jacket on the way.  
  
While walking hastily to an unknown destination, Rory thought. How could her mother betray her like this? She was –in love- with John! She was going to marry him after graduation! Why couldn't her mom just stay out of it?  
  
Rory eventually ended up at the bridge. She sat on the planks and gripped tightly on the piece of wood. Rory felt some nicks on the inside of her fingers and lifted them to see. There was blood escaping from the other side of her knuckles on all of her fingers (not her thumbs). Rory started to cry at the pain, when she heard footstep on the bridge.  
  
There, standing before her, was Tristan. He came and sat down on the planks next to her. "Whoa, those are some cuts you have there."  
  
"Yeah, I kinda gripped too hard on the wood." Rory sniffed her nose.  
  
"Mm, why were you doing that?" Tristan asked, wanting it all to get off her chest.  
  
"Mom and I got in another fight."  
  
"You've gotten in fights before," but before Tristan could continue with what he was going to say Rory cut him off with her cry.  
  
"But this was so much worse, Tristan," and Rory started balling her eyes out and leaned into Tristan for support. Tristan pulled her into his arms and hugged her while he whispered reassuring words in her ear.  
  
About 20 minutes of this, Tristan heard her cries fade a little, and then come to a complete stop. He looked down and saw that Rory, his Mary, asleep... in his arms.  
  
¤ That night ¤  
  
"Aren't you going to tell your mom that you are going out?" Tristan was confused. He had been with Rory the whole day, and he knew that Rory was avoiding Lorelai, and he thought that she should at least talk with her to set whatever their quarrel was about strait.  
  
"No," Rory replied simply. She had evaded Lorelai all day. She didn't want to talk to her, -at all-. And if they were faced together, Rory made a plan to just turn around and go the opposite direction.  
  
Tristan scrunched his eyebrows together. Should he let her go, or not? It was one of those 'on the other hand' questions. "Fine," he gave in, and they exited the house, to enter the car.  
  
"So what do you want to listen to?" Tristan asked her once they reached the freeway. Their ride had been completely silent and he was getting sick of it. They were going to one of the Chilton games and they had 30 minutes ahead of them, and Tristan did not want to spend that time in a noiseless car.  
  
"Um, do you have any CD's?"  
  
"Under your chair, is a black case of all my CD's I have."  
  
Rory check them out and he had a pretty good selection: Metallica, PJ Harvey, Gavin DeGraw, and some John Mayer. "I never took you as a John Mayer type of guy."  
  
"You have to be an idiot not to respect his work."  
  
"True."  
  
Rory popped in his CD, called Heavier Things. But Rory immediately skipped to the fourth track. Tristan recognized Rory leaning back and closing her eyes to the words that were said:  
  
(A/N: Please read the lyrics, because it will give you a little more insight on what Rory is feeling right now, thanks)  
  
I'm so alive  
I'm so enlightened  
I can barely survive  
A night in my mind  
So I've got a plan  
I'm gonna find out just how boring I am  
And have a good time  
  
Cause ever since I've tried  
Trying not to find  
Every little meaning in my life  
It's been fine, I've been cool  
With my new golden rule  
  
Numb is the new deep  
Done with the old me  
And talk is the same cheap it's been  
  
Is there a God?  
Why is he waiting?  
Don't you think of it odd  
When he knows my address  
And look at the stars  
Don't it remind you just how feeble we are?  
Well it used to, I guess  
  
Cause ever since I've tried  
Trying not to find  
Every little meaning in my life  
It's been fine, I've been cool  
With my new golden rule  
  
Numb is the new deep  
Done with the old me  
And talk is the same cheap it's been  
  
I'm a new man  
I wear a new cologne  
And you wouldn't know me  
If your eyes were closed  
I know what you'll say  
'This won't last longer than the rest of the day'  
But you're wrong this time  
You're wrong  
  
Numb is the new deep  
Done with the one mee  
I'm over the analyzing  
Tonight  
  
Stop trying to figure it out  
  
Deep will only bring you down  
You know I used to be the backporch poet  
With a book of rhymes always  
Open, knowing all the time, I'm probably  
Never gonna find the perfect rhyme  
For 'heavier things'  
  
And Tristan listened to him sing, and he knew what Rory was thinking. Right at this second, he knew what she was thinking.  
  
John hadn't called her this month. She had received letters, but that was it. She missed him so much. Why was he gone again?  
  
When they were at the football field, they started to sing to National Anthem. Everybody put their hands over their heart, and stood, like they were supposed to. After that, an announcer came out to the middle of the field and said, "And now will you bow your heads for the Iraqi dead."  
  
He's not going to be on this list. Rory knew it. And they called off names one by one: "Harlan Gefret; Robert Young; Nick Travis; Kendal Seelie..."  
  
He wasn't going to be on this list. Tristan looked over at Rory. Rory looked over at Tristan. Their eyes said it all: they were scared.  
  
"Dodger Taut; Parker Smith; Ethan Maxwell; Alex Redver..."  
  
The two looked back at the announcer, both on their toes. Well, as much on their toes they could be.  
  
But one name stuck out of the others. "John Evans."  
  
And that night, Rory's world took an unsuspected turn.  
  
A/N: wow. It took me a long time to write that. I started it like Sunday, and now here is Wednesday, and I am just getting through with it. Not only Wednesday, but late Wednesday. Like right now, it's 9:21 PM, well, Pacific Time, seeing that I live in California.  
  
And I am kinda shocked that you guys did not match the song from The Dixie Chicks, and the title. I mean, it was kinda funny, actually. Funny, funny, ha ha. Come on laugh with me! Fine be a party pooper. This chapter was kinda sad, so I see why you are not laughing. So I should probably go and let you get to review my story. And you guys thought she was going to cheat on her husband to be... you sick, sick people, Rory would never do that!  
  
Paige 


	8. Came

A/N: This chapter is going to be set in a college, Yale, to be exact, and Tristan and Rory and Paris are all there. Maybe some more people are there too, I just want to keep you on your heels to see who they are. Sorry, I haven't updated in like... a long time... I just... my cousins are coming in today, from Arkansas, and we are getting ready for them. I live in Escondido, California, by the way. It's also going to be out of Tristan's eyes this time.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the damn school, so deal with it, I do.  
  
Chapter 8: Came  
  
"Come on, Rory, eat, please," begged Tristan. They were in the lunch court of Yale College. It had been almost a year since they had found out that John had died. Rory hadn't dealt with it well. In fact, it took her about 3 months to get over the shock and even think of how she could deal with it.  
  
"I'm not hungry," was her simple reply. Tristan knew that she hasn't eaten very often, and when she did eat, it was hardly anything.  
  
"Rory, if you don't eat, I will..." Tristan thought of something he –could- do, "... drive you up to Maine, and have you miss a week of your classes."  
  
There, he knew that would get her. But all she did was pick up a Pringle, and stuff the single thing in her mouth. Then she looked at him and had an 'are-you-happy?' look.  
  
"Please, you knew that's not what I meant."  
  
"You would have to be a little clearer next time, before you make a deal."  
  
"Rory, please eat. Look what you're doing to your body!" That was a little loud, and the students that were around the two, wanted to know what was going on.  
  
"Well, it's my body to do it with." And with that, Rory stood, took her bag and sweater, and walked away.  
  
All the way to the door, Tristan looked at her from the table with concerned eyes. How –could- she be doing this to herself? It had been a year, and the only time he remembered her really eating a lot, it was when she was wallowing. He didn't know how to deal with her anymore.  
  
Paris walked in just when Rory had walked out in a huff. She looked around, and saw Tristan sitting at a table, holding his face in his hands and elbows on the table. She finally got near to him, and sat down across from him.  
  
"She still not eating?" she asked.  
  
Tristan took his face out of his hands to see Paris. "Nope," he said, shaking his head, "just a chip."  
  
"This is wrong, what she is doing."  
  
"I know."  
  
"What are we going to do about it, Paris?" Tristan asked, but Paris stayed quiet, "Yeah, that's what I thought; we can't do anything about it."  
  
The couple (of people, not mates) got silent.  
  
"She's starting to scare me," Tristan said very quietly. He didn't even know if Paris heard him.  
  
"Me too." Paris took his hand in hers and squeezed it, as in silently saying, 'she is going to be okay.'  
  
Tristan nodded his head to the gestures quiet meaning.  
  
"Madeline is having a party tomorrow night, she invited me, you, Rory, and a couple of others."  
  
"Maybe Rory will be up to go."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
Tristan thought for a second. "Yeah, I'll be there."  
  
"It's going to be held at her and Louise's house."  
  
"They have a house? Shouldn't they have a dorm with the rest of us?"  
  
Paris just shrugged her shoulders. "I better go ask Rory."  
  
"See ya, Paris."  
  
"Bye Tristan, and if you need a ride, I could give you one."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay. I'll call you."  
  
And with that, Tristan followed his other best friend walk out of the room with his eyes. He leisurely got up and started to walk towards his dorm. Paris and Rory were rooming together, and he was in a dorm with some people he didn't know. But college is about meeting new people, right? Right. But now, it was December, and he had hardly said anything to them. All he did/does, is hang out with Paris, Rory, Madeline, Rory, and a couple other inmates that had been in his classes.  
  
Mostly Paris and Rory, though.  
  
But ever since that night, Rory had been different. He knows, of course, that you would never be the same.  
  
And in the summer, Rory got all these letters from John, them taking time to get to her. They had 'I love you's' and 'I miss you so bad' and 'I want to see your beautiful face'.  
  
But the last one really got to her. And she just started balling when she read it. Tristan had been there, when she first examined it. He had held her when she cried. He had put her in bed when she fell asleep on his shoulder.  
  
Then that night, Tristan read it a thousand times, and didn't know what went wrong. And still, to this present day in December, he still has it burned into his head.  
  
Tristan, now in his dorm, threw his keys on the counter, and went into his own room, and sloppily lay down on his bed. He had no roommate, in that room, so he didn't worry about anyone running in.  
  
Then Tristan looked up at the ceiling and started to mumble under his breath this: "Dear Rory,  
  
I can't believe it. I'm coming home! They don't need me anymore! Isn't that great? We can do all our plans, and I can graduate with you. Then we will live happily ever after. How do you like it? I think it is perfect. Of course, I have to do one more thing, but after that, a flight back to Connecticut, please? I have to go. I love you. Say hi to everyone for me.  
  
Bye, John."  
  
Tristan looked around his ceiling and stared at nothing in particular, but that something got him thinking. Where was he going? What was he doing? Was it that bad to do? And how did he die? When exactly did he die? What was going through his mind? Did he really love Rory?  
  
And a telephone pushed through his thoughts with its ringing. "Hello?" he answered.  
  
"Yeah, Rory can go."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"She said 'what the hell'."  
  
"Well, that's good; she should get out of the house."  
  
"I concur."  
  
Tristan chuckled slightly.  
  
"So, I'll pick you up around 8-ish?"  
  
¤--- The Party ---¤  
  
"You came!" Madeline yelled as she opened the door for the trio.  
  
"We came," Tristan confirmed with the semi-drunk girl.  
  
"Well, come on in, you see that we still have some beer and wine. You can have whatever... want," her words slurred as she walked in the living room and sat down with the small crowd.  
  
Tristan, Rory, and Paris, all passed the drinks. "Hey, Maddy?" Paris asked, "Do you have any water?"  
  
"Yeah, there are some... fridge."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
The three entered the kitchen, Paris leading them all. They got to the refrigerator, and took out three water bottles. "Well, I think they have had enough beer for all of us."  
  
"I think you're right, Tristan," Rory said as she grabbed the bottle, and went out to where the party was.  
  
"I think that we should play truth or dare," stated Louise as Tristan, Paris, and Rory entered the living room. "I'll be first."  
  
The newcomers were looking at each other weirdly. What have they gotten themselves into.  
  
"Your turn, Madeline."  
  
"I think I would have to pick on Paris."  
  
"Truth."  
  
"Was it true that you had a major crush on Tristan in high school?" Madeline asked as she laughed.  
  
"Yeah," Paris said quietly as she looked to the ground. The room laughed slightly then urged her to continue the game. "Pete."  
  
"Dare."  
  
"Maddy, take over," Paris commanded as she went to refill her glass of soda.  
  
"I dare you... to kiss Louise."  
  
And he did. When he got back down to his spot, he picked on Rory.  
  
"Truth."  
  
"Is it true that –you- had a huge crush on Tristan in high school?"  
  
The room got quiet as Rory looked around the room. Then she looked back into the brown eyes that had asked her the question. "Yes."  
  
The area stayed completely silent.  
  
"Okay, who wants popcorn?" Louise asked as she got up to make some.  
  
"Tristan."  
  
"Dare," he answered.  
  
Louise smirked evilly. "I dare you... to go play 'Are you nervous?' in the bathroom with Rory."  
  
The room got once again still. Rory got up and Tristan didn't believe his eyes. She walked toward the bathroom that was just down the hall. When he got up to her, he heard her say, "Let's just get this over with."  
  
Tristan flicked off the lights and closed the door. He turned around and saw a faint outline of Rory on the top of the toilet seat (of course it was closed). He sat down in front of her and started to rub her leg from her ankle up, going really slow. "Did you mean it?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you like me in high school?"  
  
She didn't say anything for a long time, and Tristan was still doing his thing. He was to the top of her leg, and he was about to reach for... well, the... middle section, when he did a double-take, and set his hand right on her waist.  
  
"I think I never stopped," Rory said really, really quietly, and she didn't even know if Tristan had heard her. But then she saw Tristan come forward to her.  
  
When he got just a few inches from her, she whispered "Nervous," but he never stopped. And he closed the distance between them.  
  
A/N: hope you all are happy, I got the chapter longer than I have ever gotten it, and I also put a little trory action for you there. Review please! There is only going to be one more chapter, so make it count.  
  
---Paige 


	9. Back

A/N: I need a beta, and so if any of you guys would like to fill that spot on this name, you need to email me and say so. Then, I will pick the one I want, and I will tell you the idea I have for my next fic. It's not at all hooking with this one. And yes there is a game called "Are you nervous?" and it's when two people (preferably boy and girl) go into a closet, or in this case, a bathroom, and one of them is chosen to be the person that, well, feels them up. And if the person that is basically just sitting there, letting the other touches them, gets nervous, they say, "Nervous," and the other person has to stop.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just own the plot. That's it.  
  
Chapter 9: Back  
  
He closed the distance between them. The kiss lingered for a second, and then Rory gave into the kiss and put her arms around his neck. Tristan then rubbed his tongue against her lips, begging for her to respond.  
  
Rory, of course, did respond, and let him explore her mouth. Tristan tasted all different things. He tasted coffee, of all things, but he tasted something deeper then that. He tasted fear, and sorrow, and... love.  
  
Tristan finally knew it. He loved her. He loved everything about her. He loved the way she smiled when she looked at him. And he loved the way she leaned on him. He loved the way she sometimes batted her eyelashes, even though she didn't know it. He loved... her.  
  
And when the kiss ended, they pulled apart and Rory looked down at her shoes. She smiled a little. And she loved that kiss.  
  
The smile didn't go unnoticed by Tristan. He smiled back and put his hand under her chin, and brought her up to look at him.  
  
She saw a genuine smile on his face, and she knew that she was going to feel safe. Hell, she was safe.  
  
"So, Rory," Tristan asked.  
  
"Yes, Tristan?" she whispered, still keeping contact with his eyes.  
  
"How are you?" he asked with a slight chuckle.  
  
"I'm great." Rory's smile got bigger.  
  
"Nothing's changed?"  
  
"...," Rory sat down in his lap, and put her lips up to his ear. "I'm hungry."  
  
Tristan looked down at her amazingly. He asked the silent question with his eyes. She nodded her head a little and got up. She held out her small, petite hand and Tristan caught it with his larger, stronger one. He got up and they exited the bathroom.  
  
They walked down the hall and once they got in sight of people, their hands detached and they sat down in their spots.  
  
-Some time later, 11:24 PM-  
  
They were watching a movie and Rory was laying on the huge couch, with Paris on the other end, sitting up, a blanket spread among them. Tristan was in front of Rory and he was also covered by a blanket. Louise, Madeline, and the others were scattered around the room, and thy too were watching the movie.  
  
The middle of the movie was up and Rory's hand slipped of the couch. Tristan saw this and moved back so he could join it with his. As he did so, Paris saw the whole thing. The hands found each other and Paris put two and two together. Something must have happened in the bathroom, or they wouldn't be acting like this.  
  
Rory got up, and walked around the living room to the room next to it, the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of water. When she closed the door, there was Tristan.  
  
Rory gasped. "What are you trying to do? Give me a heart-," but she was cut off, by Tristan's lips crashing down on hers.  
  
Rory backed up onto the refrigerator and Tristan placed little kisses on her jaw line, and then her neck. Rory let out a quiet moan and pushed Tristan off of her.  
  
"Stop."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We can't do this here."  
  
"Why not?" he asked confused.  
  
Rory thought for a second. "Because," she answered simply.  
  
"Well, that's a good reason."  
  
Rory looked him strait in the eye. "Please Tristan?"  
  
Tristan sighed dramatically. "Fine."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"We should probably get back."  
  
The two entered the living room and sat back in their spots. The movie passed by quickly and it was about half past midnight when it finished, Paris and Madeline were talking. So, Tristan and Rory took it upon themselves to go out to the car. And wait for her.  
  
Tristan had Rory up against the car, his arms on either side of her and they just stood there. "Rory?"  
  
She looked up into his eyes. "Yeah?"  
  
"Will..." he breathed heavily. "Will you be my girlfriend?"  
  
Rory laughed a little and looked down. Then she looked back up at him with a smile. "Do you really have to ask?"  
  
Tristan heard someone come out the door and quickly got off of Rory. "Let's get in."  
  
Rory looked up to see Paris come to them. She unlocked the doors and Tristan opened the door for Rory. Rory then smiled at him and got in. Tristan got in himself.  
  
Paris exited the driveway and Rory suddenly said. "Let's go somewhere. I'm hungry."  
  
Paris's eyes got big as she looked back at Tristan. Tristan just smiled and nodded. "Well, um... I know a restaurant that is open late...?"  
  
A/N: I don't know, I am thinking I would make this one longer, or have a sequel to this one. I don't know. I just don't know what to put in it. I have no ideas at ALL so if you guys could give me some, I would be so happy. Thanks. But if I don't get any ideas, I don't have anything to go on, and this chapter would be the last in this story. So, if you could, if you want to have this one longer or have a sequel, I need ideas! Thanks for reading this story, and reviewing.  
  
!Paige! 


End file.
